“Readers are leaders,” they say

The problem for me was, I wasn’t really living up to that motto. While I certainly had the desire to read more, I wasn’t making the time for it in my life. Though I clearly was “busy,” I still had plenty of time to prioritize more reading. I just had to find the ways to help me make a shift.

In an honest, straight-forward self-reflection, where was I spending an inordinate amount of time that I could have been giving to books instead? On my phone, of course.

Reducing the noise

On the journey to eliminate excess from my life years earlier, I had already done quite a bit to reduce the digital noise that is so prevalent in this technological world. Specifically, I had been working to turn more of my attention away from my mobile screen and into my physical space.

To start, I deleted all social media apps except Twitter from my phone (I usually don’t waste time with the bird), unsubscribed from unnecessary emails, and turned off most mobile alerts. This cleaned things up dramatically.

In my first pass at decluttering my mobile device, I only kept the following apps visible on my iPhone:

• Messages (SMS)

• Phone

• Email

• Safari

• Clock

• Calendar

• Photos

• Evernote

• Reminders

• Fitbit

• Bible

I also had a singular “Etc.” folder in which I housed everything else, using search to access my remaining apps instead of endless hunt-and-tapping.

12 items (11 apps and 1 folder) on my mobile screen wasn’t that bad. Beyond those in sight, I counted another 47 apps total in my catch-all folder, many of which were default iOS apps. Pretty trim, all things considered.

Not good enough

Here’s the problem. Mobile phones are an incredible distraction. In particular, browsing social media, incessantly checking email, and surfing the web are ridiculous time-wasters.

As much as I had worked to cut down my social media usage, I found myself checking Facebook and other sites on Safari fairly regularly. It was less frequent than when I had their apps, but more often than I still wanted.

Also, I had recently decided to apply an auto-responder on my personal (not work) email. However, just by virtue of having my Email app in sight, even though I reduced my immediate response instincts, I was still checking my inbox far too much. Again, unnecessary.

The power of Gibsonian affordances

In a reading of The Organized Mind, I stumbled across a particular theory I found fascinating. Looking up more about it, I discovered this summary:

Affordance theory states that the world is perceived not only in terms of object shapes and spatial relationships but also in terms of object possibilities for action (affordances) — perception drives action.

American psychologist James Jerome Gibson was influential in changing the way we consider visual perception. According to his theory, perception of the environment inevitably leads to some course of action. Affordances, or clues in the environment that indicate possibilities for action, are perceived in a direct, immediate way with no sensory processing. Examples include: buttons for pushing, knobs for turning, handles for pulling, levers for sliding, etc.

This theory made me quickly think of the phrase, “Out of sight, out of mind.” I had already been considering this phrase as my wife and I organized our house in the effort to simplify. But of course! I could apply this principle to my digital spaces, as well.

Not wanting to waste time any longer, I started experimenting with Affordance theory to realize my optimal mobile home screen. In doing so, I very quickly:

• Removed many superfluous built-in Apple apps I hadn’t already deleted, including apps like Maps (Google Maps works), Contacts (they’re in Phone), FaceTime (it’s in Phone), Music (Spotify preferred), News, and Notes (I use Evernote, no need for duplication).

• Eliminated Email and Safari apps from my footer and home screen — huge, huge wins here.

• Moved Calendar and Reminders into my footer for faster, more regular access.

• Promoted apps I wanted to use most regularly to the home screen. For example, I moved Voice Memos to prompt me recording personal thoughts and love notes to my family; I kept FitBit up top to encourage my water intake and focus on my health; I moved the Bible to the top left corner to remind me to start my day by reading scripture.

• Hid all other apps I did not want to access as frequently into my singular “Etc.” folder, including my previous go-tos, Clock and Photos.

Learning over time

While Pass #2 worked for me at first, I quickly discovered a few last hacks that landed me at my now-optimal mobile experience—and one that I’ve now used for 5 years. Namely, those lessons learned were:

• I prefer important widgets to the left of my home screen, which led me to hiding Calendar, Reminders, and Evernote apps in my catch-all folder.

• Messages and Phone are something I will search for when needed and, therefore, I don’t always need them easily accessible.

• I don’t listen to as many audiobooks or read as many books as I want without Podcasts and Kindle in sight at all times.

• As much as I enjoy pictures of my family, I can better use my home screen to ask myself an important question or memorize a quote, while using my lock screen for pictures.

While it’s sparse, no doubt, my final conclusions led me to a very minimalist mobile home screen:

The results

In the end, these simple affordances resulted in much less time on the apps which waste my time and more using those that encourage more rewarding activity. Specifically, I went from reading about 5 books a year to enjoying 60 the very next year, 12x my previously average reading activity. When I’m driving, I’m listening on Audible. When I’m sitting somewhere with time on my hands, I’m reading something on Kindle. Over the last 5 years, I’ve usually averaged between 30–40 books a year, but some years vary.

I think you’d be shocked how much mind space you free up by trying this for yourself—not to mention, how much space you’d positively fill with great concepts and stories as you choose to read instead of swipe through your mobile screen.

Not only are my time-wasters now out of sight, out of mind, the ones I want are in sight and front of mind.